Dr. Michael Peppard

And do they have individuated identities? Uh, you know, like the, actually that the animated movie soul kind of plays on this too, if you ever saw it, but the, um, In the Gospel of John, we have this opening prologue, kind of overture to the Gospel of John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We have this, what's called Logos Theology of a

And do they have individuated identities? Uh, you know, like the, actually that the animated movie soul kind of plays on this too, if you ever saw it, but the, um, In the Gospel of John, we have this opening prologue, kind of overture to the Gospel of John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We have this, what's called Logos Theology of a

Logos is the Greek word for word, where you have seemingly a preexistent, some kind of intermediary being that then takes flesh and incarnates. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us in John 1.14. So for that to be legible to anyone... The listener, the first century listener, first century reader must have to have some sense of they've thought about these kind of things before, right?

Logos is the Greek word for word, where you have seemingly a preexistent, some kind of intermediary being that then takes flesh and incarnates. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us in John 1.14. So for that to be legible to anyone... The listener, the first century listener, first century reader must have to have some sense of they've thought about these kind of things before, right?

And you can imagine you're sitting around a campfire in the first century in a desert in Egypt and you're looking at the stars and it's only natural to think about, oh, my mom just gave birth to my sister. And like, where was she before that? You know, was she in a star above and like came down into earth or whatever?

And you can imagine you're sitting around a campfire in the first century in a desert in Egypt and you're looking at the stars and it's only natural to think about, oh, my mom just gave birth to my sister. And like, where was she before that? You know, was she in a star above and like came down into earth or whatever?

And so there's all kinds of reflection in platonic philosophy and cosmology about these kind of things.

And so there's all kinds of reflection in platonic philosophy and cosmology about these kind of things.

Or that in some parts of the world they come out of the ocean, not the stars, right? Oh. If you live near the water and you're bathing all the time and...

Or that in some parts of the world they come out of the ocean, not the stars, right? Oh. If you live near the water and you're bathing all the time and...

you know these souls enter your body that's never heard that yeah i mean it's they're anthropologists who studied various various groups that that was their cosmology that was their belief which interesting and why not why why doesn't that make sense you know yeah okay gabe were there any other verses about jesus talking about reincarnation that seems like a stretch to me but always an interesting an interesting idea yeah let's see um what is it okay let me see uh

you know these souls enter your body that's never heard that yeah i mean it's they're anthropologists who studied various various groups that that was their cosmology that was their belief which interesting and why not why why doesn't that make sense you know yeah okay gabe were there any other verses about jesus talking about reincarnation that seems like a stretch to me but always an interesting an interesting idea yeah let's see um what is it okay let me see uh

In John 3, familiar with the Greek there? It's highly relevant. The story actually doesn't make sense unless you know the Greek. It's one of the- Finally, I'm going to make it make sense.

In John 3, familiar with the Greek there? It's highly relevant. The story actually doesn't make sense unless you know the Greek. It's one of the- Finally, I'm going to make it make sense.

I mean, there's very few times where I would say that, where I would say truly you can't understand what's going on without it. But I think this is one. So John loves wordplay, the Gospel of John. There's a number of double entendres in John. There's dramatic irony. There's a lot of good stuff going on. in terms of the literature. And so this is in John 3, famous section.

I mean, there's very few times where I would say that, where I would say truly you can't understand what's going on without it. But I think this is one. So John loves wordplay, the Gospel of John. There's a number of double entendres in John. There's dramatic irony. There's a lot of good stuff going on. in terms of the literature. And so this is in John 3, famous section.

Jesus meets with a man named Nicodemus, who's introduced at the time as a Pharisee, but clearly someone who's open-minded like yourself. He's bringing Jesus into a tent like this, and they meet under the cover of night because he wants to learn about what this new rabbi is up to. And in the process of the conversation, they talk about that someone needs to be born. The Greek word is anothen.

Jesus meets with a man named Nicodemus, who's introduced at the time as a Pharisee, but clearly someone who's open-minded like yourself. He's bringing Jesus into a tent like this, and they meet under the cover of night because he wants to learn about what this new rabbi is up to. And in the process of the conversation, they talk about that someone needs to be born. The Greek word is anothen.

They need to be born anothen. And Nicodemus is confused and says, how can someone be born when they're old? Can they enter their mother's womb again? That's because the verb anothen can mean unborn. Again, like one more time, right? Another time. But the word anothen can also mean from above. And Jesus says, no, no, no, they're born anothen, the other way, like the vertical way.

They need to be born anothen. And Nicodemus is confused and says, how can someone be born when they're old? Can they enter their mother's womb again? That's because the verb anothen can mean unborn. Again, like one more time, right? Another time. But the word anothen can also mean from above. And Jesus says, no, no, no, they're born anothen, the other way, like the vertical way.